Dredging-hoist trolley



J. PERNAL DREDGING HOIST TROLLEY.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZI, 1919.

PatentedSept. 5,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1. PERNA.

DREDGING HOIST TRQLLEY. APPLICATION mm wurzy. m9.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHIN 2.

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

UNITED," 3mm;

PAT ENT orifice.

' JOSEPH EPERNA, or 'rniminnnrnfa, PENNSYLVANIA,

' nnnneING-Hors'r TROLLEY.

I Application filed J'u 1y .21, 19 19- swarm..- 313,418}

To all whom it may concern: y a Be it known that I, J osnrn. 'PERNA, a citizen of-the United States, residing at Phil adelphia, in the countyof Philadelphia-and Stateof Pennsylvania, have inventecla new and, useful Improvement in Dredging Hoist Trolleys, of whichthe following is a specification. i

Myinvention relates to a new and useful 1 improvement in dredging hoists and trolleys therefor and automatic mechanismforactuating thesanie, and Ila-S, 01? its bj 5 construct and arrange an apparatus of this.

description as to provide for the lowering and raising of the dredging member, which latter is preferably of thetyipe of what is known as the clamshell dredge, locking said dredge in its elevated position, so as to take the weight thereof offthe cable, and automatioally unlocking the dredging member,

and permit it to be {lowered by slackingthe cable.

A further object my present invention is to provide for supporting the operating,

cable at a number of points through: its length, so as to prevent the undue sagging there f.

A still further object ,of my. invention is 4 to provide for the cable supportingmech anism to be automatically released from the cable, and returned to .thesupportthereof. by the travel ofthe trolley carrying the, I

'fianges of which serve as tracks for the trolley wheels 4, jour'nalled to the trolley 5.

dredging member.

With these ends view, this invention to which this invention appertains may un- 'derstand how tomalre and use the same I,

will describe its constructionf in detail, re

ferring by numerals to; the accom'panying I drawing forming a part of this application,

inwhich: I p s Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the overhead trolley track the trolley located thereon, and

the dredging membersuspended' therefrom.

Fig. 2 isan end" view of theltrolley track .ing the, hanger in the, position it assumes showing a portionfbf the posts and beams by Which it is supported, the dredging member being omitted. l I

9 Fig. 3 is a detail edge viewiof the hangclearly show theman'nerin which the hanger passes into contact'with the supporting cam.

I'Fi 6 is View similar to Fi ures Show 111g v.t e upper end of the'hanger in the position assumes when it has finally entered intoengagenient. with the cam hook;

1 Fig. 7 is av view similar to Fig. 5 showwhen the cable is'drawn back to release said hanger from the cam hook.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to ig. 5 showing thehanger in the position itassumes after passing; out of contact with the cam hook,

and just prior to'the dredging memberbeing lowered, by the slack-of the cable. ncarrying out my invention as here em ;bodied,1frepresents one of a series of posts for supporting the overhead trestle 2,'which may be of'anydesired length,and has de pending therefrom the I-beam 3, the lower Between the two side plates of the trolley is journalled a shive wheel 7 over which the operating cableSrunS', said cable fpassing downward {around the shive wheel 9 and again upwards its end being secured to the stud 10 in said trolley. I The shivewheel 9 "s journalled between the; side bars and thehangerll, which hanger is pivoted at 12 to the top of the clam shell dredge 13, and from the sides of the upper end of this hanger project the studs 14 adapted to pass into engagement with the supporting cams 6,

15 represents a tail rope or out haul cable, one end of which is attached at 16 to the trolley, while the other end is secured to a suitable winding drum. Thus it will be seen that by the proper manipulation of the cable and tail rope, the trolley may be caused to travel along its track to a point where it is desired to put the dredge into operation, and by slacking on the cable, the dredge will be lowered, and when loaded the drawing of the cable will hoist the dredgefuntil the studs 14 come in contact with the ends of the supporting cams, and a continuation of this hoisting will cause these studs to ride up to the under side of said cams as clearly shown in Fig, 5 until passing over the point thereof. Now by a slight slacking on the cable, the studs will be lowered into the hook of the cams, which will therefore support the dredge and its load, releasing the strain from the cable, after which the trolley may be drawn by the tail rope to the point of discharge, when by again drawing on the cable, the studs will ride up the inner face of the supporting cams as shown in Figure 7, until passing over the upper point thereof the hanger will assume the position shown in Fig. 8: Now by slacking upon the cable the dredgemay be lowered to the desired point for discharging its load, leaving the mechanism in position for repeating these operations.

In utilizing the principle here involved and above described, both the cable and the tail rope during certain of the operations tend to sag to a degree that would interfere with the operations,and it is therefore necessary to provide means for supporting said cable and tail rope at intermediate points, and such supports must be manipulated by automatically passing out of the path of the trolley in its travels back and forth, and

I accomplish this object by depending a series of brackets 17 from the top of the I-beam, on which is supported a runner 18,

and at convenient intervals along this runner are pivoted the arms 20, as indicated at 21. Each of the a'rms2O has a relatively long roll 21 journalled thereon, and two coil springs 22 attached thereto, the opposite ends of said springs being attached to the runner as indicated at 23, so as to normally hold the armof this roll at right angles to the runner, as shown in Fig. 4;

These rolls are so disposed that they lie beneath the cable and tail rope, thus sup- ..portingthe same against undue sagging, and

yet as the trolley travels to and fro, it will automatically swing these rolls to one side or the other, but immediately upon the trolley passing an arm its springs will return it to its normal position beneath the cable and tail rope.

Thus it will be seen that regardless of the length of the cable and tail rope, no undue sagging will take place, obviating the necessity of using the usual chain spaced hangers which are expensive, annoying and at times exceedingly dangerous to the workmen.

.Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction as herein shown, as these may be varied within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is 1. In an apparatus of the character described a trolley, means for supporting said trolley, a hanger pivoted to the dredge, a cable so attached to the trolley as to have a loop formed therein, a shive wheel journalled' in the hanger, over which the loop in said cable runs, a stationary supporting cam carried by the trolley, and means for causing said hanger to so enter into engagement with the surfaces of said supporting camas to be locked thereon and unlocked therefrom;

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a trolley adapted to travel upon an overhanging track, a cable attached to said trolley in such manner as to form a loop in said cable a dredge, a hanger pivoted thereto, a shive wheel journalled in said hanger over which latter runs the loop in the cable, studs projecting fromthe sides of the hanger, and double stationary supporting cams carried by the trolley, of such shape that the cont-acting of said studs therewith will lock the hanger to the cam or free it therefrom by certain manipulations of the cable.

3. In combination with a trolley "of the character described, a double stationary supporting cam secured thereby, a shive wheel journalled in the trolley, a cable passing over said shive wheel, one end thereof secured to said trolley, a dredge, a hanger pivoted to said'dredge, a shive wheel journalled in the hanger, around which latter shive wheel said cable passes, and studs projecting from the upper end of the hanger adapted to enter into various engagements with the supporting cam, whereby the hanger may be automatically locked to said cam and released therefrom by the manipulation of the cable.

4. A device of the character stated, comprising a trolley, oppositely disposed fixed camscarried thereby, each having a hook formed with the lower portion thereof, in combination with a dredge bucket, a hanger pivoted to the bucket for supporting the same, studs carried by the hanger and means for supporting said hanger adapted to raise til they ride over the upper ends thereof and lower the same, said studs, when moved after which said studs slide down over the into contact with the cams, sliding along the outer surfaces of said cams, as shown and 10 under surface of the hook portions and then described. A,

dropping into said hook portions and when In testimony whereof, I have hereunto raised for disengagement from the cams, afiixed my signature.

sliding along the inner surface thereof un- JOSEPH PERNA. 

